Power Smart: a Smart Move for BC Hydro

Since 1971, the BC Chapter of the American Marketing Association (BCAMA) has honoured BC-based organizations that have demonstrated the excellent quality and care that goes into their marketing strategy efforts. Each year, the BCAMA presents the winning organization with the Marketer of the Year award at a gala reception, which provides the opportunity for the winning organization to be recognized.

The BCAMA is now accepting nominations for the 2013 Marketer of the Year award – hopefully you’re considering nominating a BC-based organization, or perhaps you’re thinking about nominating your own firm. If so, you might be interested in hearing about the experiences of some past winners.

Cynthia Dyson

BC Hydro won the BCAMA Marketer of the Year award in 2009. Cynthia Dyson, BC Hydro’s Director of Marketing Communications and Brand Strategy, was kind enough to talk with Kirstie Satchwell, a member of the Marketline Committee, about BC Hydro accomplishments for that year they won the award.

Cynthia says, “The Power Smart campaign in 2009 was a unique opportunity to tie our brand to the 2010 Olympic games which BC Hydro was a sponsor of. It was a great year for us as it allowed us to stand out in the market.”

She adds that BC Hydro’s goals for 2009 were to, “build awareness of Power Smart and lead our customers to participate in energy savings programs such as purchasing products (like new energy efficient lighting), visiting retailers or changing their behaviours around energy use at home and work.”

One transit ad in the Power Smart campaign: a motion sensor was connected to the light on this transit ad as part of an outdoor campaign. The campaign itself saved over 100 kilowatt hours of electricity.

When BC Hydro was nominated for the BCAMA Marketer of the Year award, they were excited that they had been recognized in such a competitive field. During the nomination process, their challenge was to find the right results to share because, as Cynthia puts it “- changing behaviour is a hard target to measure.”

When Cynthia was asked for her advice to this year’s Marketer of the Year nominees, she said, “Get a great portfolio. Be proud of your work, do your best and be passionate about what you put forward.”

She adds, “The best part of being awarded Marketer of the Year was being able to celebrate with a huge team at BC Hydro and our partners at DDB – all of whom are passionate about the Power Smart brand and about getting our programs into market and seeing results. Power Smart has been in the market since 1989, so it was great to be recognized. Internally, for the Power Smart team, the award was validation for the work we do and why we do it. Externally, we’re a well-known entity, and it’s nice to be known for more than just the power bill – now it’s something that actually made a difference in the marketplace with our customers.”

Cynthia wrapped up our chat with some advice for other marketing directors who were looking at accomplishing something like winning the Marketer of the Year award: “Be passionate about your industry and the work you do.”

Inspired by authenticity and sincerity, Kirstie Satchwell (@warroominc) focuses these elements into her work with people, communication and her work process itself at War Room Inc. Her life experiences have made it crystal-clear to her that it is important to pair quality with practicality, people with the environment and the individual with the communal. These values form her working life to this day.